Common Conditions

Low Desire Common in Midlife Women

Dec 26, 2017

Partnership status was an important factor for the women’s experiences with desire and distress. Those with partners were twice as likely to have sexually related personal distress and HSDD compared to women without partners. Over half of the partnered sexually active women were at “high risk” of sexual dysfunction.

Older women and un-partnered women were more likely to have low desire in general, not necessarily HSDD. For all women, vaginal dryness and pain during sex added to distress and HSDD, as did depression and medication side effects.

Fortunately, issues like vaginal dryness, pain, and depression can be treated. For more information about sexual health in older women, please click here.

The study was published earlier this year in the Journal of Sexual Medicine.